The quiet eternal darkness of the Atomnyy Zavod was shattered as three robots crashed through the 10th story window onto the street below. The heroes standing in front of the building were startled, but maintained their composure. PEBCAK had burned through several drones as the team battled their way toward the once empty tenement building. Through the frosted glass of the lobby doors, shadows could be seen moving back and forth. It was impossible to know how many monsters were in there, but the estimates put them somewhere in the hundreds. The entire building was ready to burst, and monsters would come spilling out into the streets. The heroes had finally made it to the building, but they were exhausted, their resources diminished.
PEBCAK only had a few drones left, not counting the three currently littering the sidewalk. The Zabota Materi, locally called The Zims, were Atomnyy Zavods specialist forces. They would be arriving soon, and were well equipped to handle the monsters within. Honestly, they were well equipped to handle any number of monsters, but until they arrived, it would have to be up to the four heroes to hold the line. They were the ones who answered the call.
Three of the heroes moved toward the alley to enter the building from the side door. PEBCAK stayed behind to monitor the front and ensure the blocks they had in place were holding. The micro-forcefield PEBCAK was generating would not hold for long if he moved too far away. The last of his drones were still in the building, but he'd been disconnected from them for some time now. What kind of monster could have destroyed three of his drones at once?
You would think that it would be impossible for a robot to experience exhaustion, but every circuit felt burnt out. Every capacitor was at its capacity. He worried about the three heroes who had answered the response request from Atomnyy headquarters. Their records indicated that they were only recently approved to operate as independent heroes within the city limits. They were, if not untested, unforged. When the tide of monsters would eventually break out, and PEBCAK bore no delusions they wouldn't, he hoped that at the very least, he’d have kept the others out of immediate harm's way. Sending all three of them around into the alley to scout out a side entrance was not tactically sound, but it was where they would be least likely to run into trouble. Naturally, they listened to PEBCAK. He was a known hero. Even the Zims, who typically managed the security of the Atomnyy Zavod seemed to, well, if not respect him, at least not be as dismissive as they typically were toward heroes.
Cracker Jack tried to illuminate the alley with his sparkler blasts, but as always in the ever present darkness that covered the city, their dimmed lights barely extended a few feet from the group. The only thing that could pervade the sludgy darkness was the neon lights powered by Atomnyy's very own branded atomic batteries.
Coming from outside of the Atomnyy Zavod, a person might be surprised by the alley they were currently creeping through. Though dark and at times maze-like due to the massive pipes and irregular architecture of its unique buildings, the alley was incredibly clean. There wasn't a speck of litter or a broken bottle anywhere to be seen. Cracker Jack knew that they didn't rely on robotics as they did in Shorai City, so how did they keep their alleys so clean? Even the large steel dumpster they were making their way around had no signs of rust or graffiti.
A door finally became visible, as the waning light of floating sparkles lit upon it. The door was metal, heavy, and reinforced. It was the kind of door you would install to keep something really powerful out. It was a Hero Graded door. That would be suspicious in its own right, but tapping into his heroic knowledge set, Cracker Jack realized that, clean as it might be, the alleys of the Atomnyy Zavod weren't always safe.
As they approached, the heavy door slammed from the inside and warped as if it’d taken a cannon shot. Cracker Jack, Overclock, and Swarmantha fell back a step. "Whattheheck!?" said Overclock in his fast-forwarded voice. "ShouldwegetPEBCAKhereorwhat?" he said, words blurring together as an often incomprehensible mix. A small swarm of robotic insects, each bearing micro LED displays, formed around him, spelling out what he was saying in a real-life subtitles. While Cracker Jack was familiar with Overclock's speech, Swarmantha was new to the group and had only come in when trouble started. Still, it was clever. Overclock's communication weakness could make him difficult to work with in pickup groups. Swarmantha's method was inspired! It completely resolved a major concern of Overclock, while improving the group's overall communication and coordination. Cracker Jack resolved to officially invite her to join the Neon Knights as a more permanent group member.
"Steady on, Overclock," Cracker Jack said, putting in his best effort to sound inspiring. "A hero never runs from danger, but towards it!"
The slamming kept on, the hinges finally breaking the thick pins that held them to the frame, and the door groaned as it began to fall forward into the alley. The scattered remains of PEBCAK’s last drones embedded into its metal. The door was so warped, that the curve made it wobble back and forth a bit before settling, expelling some of the broken robotic pieces as it came to a stop.
Out of the darkness of the building, two horizontal slits burned into light. They grew to an angry red, somehow even with the burden of Atomnyy’s darkness. A voice, heavily accented with Russian tones, emanated from the dark recesses. “More toys to play with!”
"Right!Neverrunfromdangerbuttowardsit!" Overclock shouted as he shot forward, straight at the shadowed entryway, disappearing into the darkness. The insect caption swarm stayed behind, unable to process Overclock's superspeed fast enough to respond. A mild thud and a harumph were the only sounds that emerged.
“Overclock!” Swarmantha shouted, casting her arms forward. Mechanical hornets poured out from her cloak, flying into the doorway. Even the caption bots joined the fray, but it was obvious that she had control over far fewer robotic insects than she had at the start of the night.
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Cracker Jack stood still. What was wrong with him? He begged his muscles to move forward, but it was as if he were locked in place. The only thing within him that moved at a rapid pace was his frantic heart and laboring lungs. This wasn't a power that had immobilized him. It was just fear.
BreakFast, finally stepped out of the absolute darkness of the building, into the subtler shadows of the alley. It would have almost appeared comical. The tracksuit. The toaster for a face. What a silly villain. In fact, they’d all assumed that was what they were going up against. Another silly villain showing up out of nowhere. How scary could breakfast be after all?
But heat poured from his helmet, and in only a matter of moments, Swarmantha's primary ability was nothing but useless melted slag littering the alley floor. All her insects were destroyed in moments, as if they were nothing. Perhaps it was seeing this that broke Cracker Jack's paralysis. Or maybe it was the realization that each of his compatriots had tried, and ultimately failed to even scratch the villain. Whatever it was, Cracker Jack finally responded.
Flames licked the night as fireworks blasted out of the outstretched fingers of his left hand. The pops, whirs, and wizzes spread across BreakFast’s broad chest, singeing the red fabric of his tracksuit, but barely causing any damage. Still Cracker Jack poured more and more forth. He pulled from wells he'd thought already depleted, and yet it still wasn't enough. It’s hard to explain how a man with the face of a toaster could look exasperated, but somehow, BreakFast pulled it off.
This wasn't Cracker Jack's only trick, however, this was just the diversion. As BreakFast slowly walked toward him, stepping out into the night shrouded alley, Jack pulled out his final showstopper. The military grade M800, while technically not legal, would be his grand finale. He never thought he would have to use it, but he always kept it on him just in case. Cracker Jack used his power to light the fuse and it sparked high off its short fuse. Cracker Jack wound his arm back to throw it, but again he froze.
He didn’t freeze out of fear this time. No, it was because a hard shell of maple-smelling crystal now covered his right hand. The fuse, however, had not gone out. “Looks like you turned out to be a real dud.”
???
PEBCAK stayed out front, processing what would happen if the monsters that filled the main lobby were to swarm out into the night, when he heard the muffled explosion. It was followed by Swarmantha’s scream, as she ran from the alley, not stopping at their designated rallying point.
Calculating the risk ratio, PEBCAK made a risky, albeit well considered, choice. Moving from the door, he ran to the mouth of the alley to see what happened to the other two heroes, only to see the hellish glow of the slits in BreakFast's helmet. “Ah, tin man. It is good to see you, yes? Don’t worry, the children you brought to play are all taking naps. Well… except the one who ran screaming that is,” he said, laughing menacingly.
“BreakFast! As a temporarily deputized agent of the Zabota Materi, and in accordance with Human Resource Policy 4140, I hereby place you under arrest, you may...” he began to state, before being cut off by BreakFast.
“Spare me the lecture, robidiot! The Zims care not one bit for you or these children. If they had, they wouldn’t have sent you into this blender without the proper backup. Where is the response team? They wait. They observe. They document," BreakFast sneered. "You are nothing but the benchmark test they wish for me to surpass.”
He wasn't wrong. The Zim response team should have been here ages ago, but there was no sign of them. They were alone, and it was by design. PEBCAK analyzed the situation before him. Words did not appear to have an impact on BreakFast. The situation demanded a physical altercation. Furthermore, there were potentially injured teammates that needed emergency triage. The situation called for decisive action. This was all processed within a millisecond, as PEBCAK flew forward on a rocketed trajectory. BreakFast brought up his mallet to swing in a wide arc across his chest, but PEBCAK had already calculated a response.
Rolling, he sprang forward and swung an uppercut, knocking right into what could have passed for the chin of BreakFast. He didn’t stop there. A staccato of rapid jabs shot forward, hitting BreakFast several times in the chest, forcing him to take steps back toward the darkness of the alley he’d emerged from. PEBCAK leaped up, hoping to slam a fist down on his head, but BreakFast once again pulled out his odd-looking gun, shooting a glancing blow off PEBCAK’s right shoulder. Now frozen in place, PEBCAK pivoted, swinging his left arm in a full arc, slashing down and cutting the weapon in half.
BreakFast roared as he retreated further back into the alley, creating distance between him and PEBCAK. That’s when PEBCAK heard the glass shattering from the front of the building. The monsters were coming out of the front, escaping into the streets. He now lacked confidence that they would be contained. Whatever the Zabota Materi were up to this night, their plans did not include the containment that the heroes were called out to achieve. How far did their plans actually go? Were people going to get hurt tonight?
It was only a brief pause, a fractional buffering, as he calculated the best response, but it was enough for BreakFast to react. Swinging his mallet upward, it glowed a familiar atomic green as it smashed up into PEBCAK's chest plate making him fly up and back.
BreakFast was not done, however. Living up to his true name, he re-appeared above him, now bringing the mighty mallet down with both hands. The seismic force alone was enough to shatter bricks, bend a nearby steel dumpster into the shape of a hot dog bun, and crush PEBCAK to the ground. PEBCAK tried to respond, but found that all his subsystems were systematically shutting down. His power was draining rapidly and being diverted to a single system, his wifi chip. Standing over him, BreakFast looked down. He didn’t know how he processed it, but he could tell that BreakFast was smirking.
PEBCAK knew that he was done. He could not continue this fight, but he also knew that he could make at least one last attempt to get another chance. In a slowly fading voice, PEBCAK said three final words, as BreakFast held his mallet in one hand, dangling precariously above the robot's head. The wifi signal connected, and the transmission was sent, right before stating “I’ll be back.”
“I like that movie,” BreakFast said, letting go of the mallet. It came crashing down. There was a crunch of metal and stone, and for a brief moment, there was silence. “Too bad, they picked such a puny actor to play the villain.”
